Food News & Content Delivered to You Daily

Heineken goes broad with digital to boost brand awareness

Heineken is shifting dollars from TV to Google and Facebook as the digital platforms become the new preferred way to reach mass audiences.

The brewer is rethinking the role of platforms long touted for their ability to deliver highly personalized messages. Digital (especially Google and Facebook) is a mass medium for Heineken, and as such, it’s increasingly using them to reach the most people in a broad target demographic.

Similar to how Procter & Gamble said it’s fine-tuning how it’s using Facebook to target potential customers, Heineken doesn’t think reach versus targeting is an either-or question; it’s just seeking the right balance. In some markets, that’s meant spending more on digital than it does on TV, according to Nourdin Rejeb, Heineken’s global manager for digital.